Finance & Capital Management

New York -- High-profile retailers can make a high-impact difference when they use their clout to do good.  

Case in point: Ann Inc., parent to Ann Taylor and Loft, donated more than $4.3 million to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation to fund groundbreaking cancer research. The brands parlayed successes from the 2014 spring and fall campaigns and have brought the company's total corporate donation to $22.3 million in the past 10 years.

Office Depot will urge its stockholders to support a merger with Staples by asking them to vote in favor of the $6.3 billion acquisition by Staples at an annual meeting, according to a regulatory filing.

Milan, Italy – Google Glass may not be dead, after all. According to the Wall Street Journal, global vertical eyewear retailer Luxottica Group is partnering with Google to release a new version of Google Glass in the near future.

Seattle – Increases in expenses including fulfillment, marketing and technology helped swing Amazon.com to a net loss of $57 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2015 from net income of $108 million the same quarter a year earlier. Amazon met Wall Street expectations with the loss.

Amazon fared better with net sales, which increased 15% to $22.72 billion from $19.74 billion. In North America, net sales grew 24% to $13.41 billion from $10.08 billion.

New York – During World War II, Gen. Douglas MacArthur famously said, “I shall return.” Two board members of Aeropostale Inc. are taking the opposite approach.

Robert B. Chavez has advised Aeropostale that he will not seek re-election to its board of directors in 2015 due to his responsibilities and time commitments as president and CEO of Hermes of Paris Inc. Chavez will continue to serve until the 2015 annual meeting.

Columbia, S.C. – Edens, an owner and developer of community shopping centers, has named Jodie W. McLean as CEO, effective June 30. McLean will replace Terry S. Brown, who is stepping down as chairman and CEO.

McLean has been a member of the Edens leadership team for 18 years. Brown became CEO and joined the company's board of directors in 2002, and became chairman of the board in 2013.
 

As retailers feel the pressure to raise wages for employees, GameStop is focusing on education by giving staffers an incentive to enter the classroom.

GameStop is launching a new scholarship for its employees that would allow them or their children to go to college. The program is called “Power to the Scholars,” a reference to the “Power to the Players” slogan the company has popularized over the years.

Seattle – Net earnings rose 16% to $494.9 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2015 from $427 million a year earlier at Starbucks Corp. Cost of sales grew at a slower pace than extremely strong revenue growth, which helped boost profits.

Starbucks plans to open 1,650 net new stores globally during fiscal 2015. This includes 600 new stores in the Americas, half licensed; 200 new stores in Europe/Middle East/Africa, primarily licensed; and 850 new stores in China/Asia-Pacific, primarily licensed.